


Work Six Times As Hard

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Attempted Sexual Assault, Black Tony Stark, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, M/M, MIT Era, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Palladium Poisoning, Pining, Racism, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22871281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Tony Stark was black, first and foremost. He was rich, second. As Maria told him, everyone could glance at him and see the color of his skin right away, but they couldn’t tell how much money he had so he needed to play it safe. It didn’t make a difference. Not in the end.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 117
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Work Six Times As Hard

**Author's Note:**

> For Tony Stark Bingo: A3-Free Space
> 
> So to explain the warnings: a white girl drugs Tony’s drink and threatens to tell the cops Tony raped her if they try to say anything. So uhh yeah be aware of that. If you want to skip it, the situation starts in the paragraph starting "He should've known that by himself" and ends at "A week later, Jim grabbed a pen".

Growing up was... weird. He got separated from Howard in his offices, and someone called security on ‘the guy that wandered in from off the street'. He'd argued with the security guards that had showed up, telling them who he was and showing the little visitor's pass Howard had gotten printed off for him, but they didn't believe it until Howard himself showed up and said the magic words, "He's my son." He'd been thirteen when that happened. 

When he was fourteen, they let him go to MIT. Howard was too busy to even say congratulations, and Maria had an event planned for that day. He tried not to get upset about her staying behind, because it was for the Foundation, and the future of a hundred kids who weren't lucky enough to be born in money needed her support more than he needed her presence on his move in day. Jarvis came to help him anyways, so it's not like he was alone. Maria had hugged him before he got on the plane, having to look up to see him even though he wasn't done growing, and she said, "Remember honey, you have to work twice as hard to get half as far as the rest of them. It don't matter that you have the Stark name and money, because that's not what they're gonna see when they look at you." She let her accent come out when it was just the two of them-- as well as the English that “wasn’t respectable” enough for her to use around others. In front of the camera and around Howard, she toned it down so much that it was nonexistent. "You keep your head down, y'hear? Study and don't do a thing outta line or they'll expel you. This in't like boarding school-" 

"-It's the pros," Tony finished. "Yeah Ma, I know." 

"Good. Go out there and be great Antonio, I know you have what it takes." She pulled his head down as she got on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

Tony felt the weight of her expectations settle on his shoulders, and he nodded. 

That weight lifted, just for a moment, when he saw his dorm roommate settling in. He was black too, and he had a fro like Tony had always wanted but never been allowed. His hair was long, surrounding his head like a halo. He grinned when he saw Tony, holding out a hand. Tony wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be an angel, walking around with a smile like that. "You must be Antonio, I'm Jim." 

Tony shook his hand dumbly, thinking that Jim was the most gorgeous person he'd ever seen. His heart was fluttering in his chest, and he wouldn't be surprised if he was floating-- except humans didn't float but by god did his legs feel like they weren't doing their job. He kept shaking Jim's hand, realized how long it had been, then blurted, "Tony!" 

Jim raised an eyebrow, and their hands let go of each other. 

"My uh, name's Tony." 

"Nice to meet you," he said with another smile. That smile could light their room even if he wasn’t a celestial being, Tony was sure of it. If they didn't turn on a light when it got dark, all Tony would have to do is make him laugh and he'd be able to keep working on his blueprints. 

Tony got so comfortable in sharing a room and so many classes with Jim that he'd kind of forgotten how everyone else saw him. Jim was handsome as hell, nice, and smart, and he was also too old for Tony. Not that Jim had said that in so many words, but he always treated Tony like he was a younger brother or something, not a dating candidate. Tony knew from the moment he laid eyes on him that he didn't stand a chance, so it wasn't all that bad to come to this conclusion. 

At least, Tony thought he was handling it pretty well until someone invited him to a party, and the only reason he said yes was because he was hoping that he'd get to meet somebody half as pretty with just a smidgen of interest in him. 

He should've known that by himself, he didn't stand a chance of living a normal life. He was drinking a nasty tasting beer from a red solo cup when the room started to spin. The girl in front of him-- blonde, creamy white skin, and a pink tube top-- held out a hand to help steady him. "Had a bit much?" she asked. 

Tony nodded even though no, he'd only had one cup before this, and this one wasn't even half empty. 

"Here, maybe you need a room a little less crowded." She started pulling him towards one of the bedrooms, and it was behind a foggy wall in his mind that he noted that that was strange. It had no connection to his current brainpower though, so he stumbled after her, setting his cup down on a side table before he could spill it all over the carpet. She picked a room, turned on the light and poked her head in to make sure it was empty, then pulled him inside and closed the door. She didn't hesitate to herd him towards the bed, settling on her knees next to him. She had one hand on the back of his neck, and the other on the inside of his thigh. "There, isn't that better?" she asked flirtatiously, like they were about to fool around instead of him about to pass out. 

But he knew he couldn't be rude to her, so he said, "Yeah, thanks." 

"Good." Then her hand started to climb higher and she leaned down, pushing her boobs against him as she kissed along his jaw. 

"Uh, I don't really think-" 

"I didn't bring you here to think," she said, putting her hand directly on his crotch. 

"Um." He pushed her away clumsily. Gently too, because even though he didn't know if he could walk, he knew how much trouble he could get in for hurting her. "No thank you." 

She snorted, amused. "'No thank you', you're so cute." 

The door opened, and a far more familiar voice said, "Tony?" 

"Hey Jim," he said automatically. He wanted to jump to his feet and convince Jim to take him home, but his arms weren't working right and he couldn't really get his legs to move. His tongue felt too big in his mouth, the air around him too warm for comfort. 

"Excuse me," the girl said all snootily, "we're busy." 

"He's fucking _fourteen_." 

"Seriously?" She looked at Tony then back to Jim. "Well how was I supposed to know? He doesn't look fourteen. Besides, he was flirting with me all night." She didn't move from her position all over Tony. 

"Flirting or not, that's still rape." 

"Uh huh," she said, completely unbothered, "and no one would believe you if you tried to tell them, so maybe leave us alone for half an hour?" 

Jim clenched his jaw. "Get your hands off him." 

"You don't seem to understand, fuckface. You leave us alone for a bit, or I tell the police that your friend raped me. So," she made a shooing motion with her hand. 

His hands were balled into fists, and if it were a guy, he already would have started swinging. But she had most of the power here and she knew it. "Yeah well maybe that would've worked if you'd grabbed anyone else. There's just one problem: money talks louder than you, and he's Tony Stark so he definitely has enough of it." 

"Tony Stark?" she said, hand retracting quickly. She looked down at Tony accusingly. "You didn't say you were Tony Stark." 

"I introduced myself," he mumbled, the words hard to get out of his mouth. He couldn't remember if he'd mentioned his last name or not; probably not, he didn't want to ride Howard's fame to the top when it was his brain that had gotten him into college. 

"You sure as hell did _not_ , you asshole," she said, getting up quickly and racing from the room. 

Without her propping him up, Tony fell to the side. He was on a bed though, so it was a soft landing. "C'mon Tones," Jim said softly, putting his hands under Tony's arms and righting him, "time to get the hell out of here." 

A week later, Jim grabbed a pen from Tony's shaking hand. "You've slept, like six hours the past week. You gotta get some sleep, Tony." 

"I don't need to sleep, I need to work." He reached for the stolen pen, but Jim held it out of range. Tony picked a new one out of his pocket. 

Jim frowned. Yes, Tony always had extra pens, but he usually understood that when Jim took the one he was using, it was past time for him to stop. He'd gripe and groan, but he'd give in and eat something or go to sleep or whatever it was he'd been putting off doing. "What's going on with you?" 

"I need to work." 

"Why?" 

"You know that saying? That you have to work twice as hard-" 

"Twice as hard to get half as far, yeah. My mom gave me that speech when I got accepted." 

Tony nodded. "Exactly." 

"But you're not working just twice as hard Tony. This is way past that." 

"Yeah, because if I work four times as hard, that means I'll be equal, right?" 

They both knew it wasn’t that simple. "I guess." 

"And if I work six times as hard, I'll actually be able to get my ideas out there and start helping people. I'm not going to make them suffer just because I was too fucking lazy to get off my ass." 

Ah. Jim laid a hand over Tony's, forcing him to stop writing. "You want to get it out there-- make a name for yourself-- I get it. But you're going to kill yourself like this. You're only human, you need time to rest. Degrees take time, you'll have years to get this out there, I promise." 

"But if- if people recognize me, then they can't- they won't-" 

Jim took his free arm and hugged Tony. "I'll be with you the whole time, okay?" 

Tony drooped, his grip on the pen faltering. "It was just a party," he whispered. "I wanted to have fun like a normal kid for once." 

"I know." Jim squeezed him tighter. "It's not your fault she put something in your drink." 

"It wouldn't have happened if she knew who I was." 

"Probably not, but-" but that wasn't the point. 

"But nothing. I'm going to make a name for myself. Everyone's going to know who I am, and it'll never happen again." 

Jim didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything. 

* * *

Tony was seventeen when his parents died, and the only thing keeping him from drinking so much alcohol he forgot about it, was the desire to be better than that. Howard had focused on the company so much because it was something he'd built from a single factory to an actual business, and he wanted Tony to have something solid to inherit. Maria had known that Tony was born into a good life with all the protection he'd be able to get, so she'd focused on helping everyone that didn't have that same edge. 

He knew all that. 

It didn't stop him from hating them. They died, and he should've been more sad about it than he was. They were less like parents and more like people he lived in the same building with. Used to live. 

He was old enough now, that people heard he was underage and still said, "He should know better," when he did something other teenagers did. They could get so drunk they passed out, but Tony no, he should have known better. Any mistake he made would be a mistake he had to pay for. 

So Tony had Jarvis get rid of all the liquor that Howard had kept to drown out his own inadequacies, and he pretended like it didn't hurt like hell that Jim wasn't here with him. 

* * *

"Don't you think you owe it to everyone else like you?" Natalie asked. "To be better than this?" 

Tony was dying, and his new assistant was giving him a fucking lecture on being a good example. He was drinking. He'd never done that before, and he wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Apparently the fuss was losing motor control and getting your best friend so pissed at you he didn't bother to ask what was wrong. "Everyone like me," Tony repeated, and she nodded. "Who is 'everyone like me'? Rich people? Black men? Kids who are too smart for their own good? Why are you pushing this? It's not what you're getting paid for. Go file a report with Pepper about how terribly I'm treating you or something." 

She stared at him for a long moment. "You're a good person, Mister Stark. Whether you want to remember that or not." 

* * *

"Tony kiddo!" Fury called, pulling him into a hug. Which was uh, definitely strange because Fury hadn't hugged him back when he'd actually been a kid. "How've you been?" 

"Dying," he said drily. 

"Yeah I heard." 

"From who?" 

"You knew Miss Rushman was working for someone, don't pretend you don't." 

"Hm." 

"I've got a few things that belonged to your old man, why don't we go get coffee and I can tell you about it?" 

"Believe it or not, talking about Howard doesn't bring much happiness to my life." 

"You'll want to hear this. It'll help you out, and in return you can listen to my proposal." 

"Why Fury, I always knew you loved me." 

"Don't be a smart ass, kid. I'm trying to help you." 

"Smart ass is my middle name, or weren't you there when I was born?" 

* * *

"So you were dying," Jim said, arms crossed over his chest as they sat side by side on the couch. They were both looking at the television even though it was playing a commercial at the moment. 

"Yeah." 

"And you didn't tell me." 

"...Yeah." 

"Is there a reason you didn't tell me?" 

"I didn't want you to worry." 

"You didn't want me to worry about you," Jim said flatly. 

"Yeah." 

"While you were dying and you knew for a fact that there wasn't a cure." 

"Well it sounds bad when you say it like that." 

"Okay Tony. Say it in a way that _doesn't_ sound bad." 

"That's not fair. You were dealing with enough bullshit with the air force as it was, what with the lack of weapons from the company and everything. Besides, when was the last time you got laid? It's great stress relief, honey bear, you gotta plan that shit ahead of time or you won't take your best friend dying very well." 

Jim frowned, turning to look at him incredulously. "You think that if I'd been having sex I would have been okay with it?" 

"Maybe not 'okay with it', but-" okay yeah, it sounded that way and there wasn't a way to spin it, not to Jim at least "-y'know." 

"You're so stupid." 

Normally when Jim said that, it was with fond exasperation. Right now he sounded actually annoyed, and that made hurt spike in Tony's chest. For a moment, he thought that his body was rejecting the replacement element, but then he came to the sad conclusion that he had feelings. 

Jim shook his head and didn't say anything else. He turned the volume up on the tv and leaned further into the cushions. 

It was a real fucking long time before either of them spoke. The reruns for whatever show they'd been watching came to an end and switched to a rerun of a different unknown show, and it was as that was coming to an end that Tony decided to say something. He'd spent all that time in silence to think about whether or not it was a good idea, running in unproductive circles in his head. He couldn't guess how Jim was going to react because he didn't have enough data on this particular subject, and while that normally meant he'd keep it to himself for another twenty five years, what the hell was a near death experience for, if not a love confession? He'd kept it to himself after Afghanistan, and what would be the point of doing it again six months later? Like really, what did Tony have to lose? Jim wasn't going to ditch him for poorly placed affection, not after he put in all this time for their friendship. If he'd been there when Tony was going through his first couple relationships, he could definitely make it through this. "I didn't want you to think of me like that." 

"Like what?" 

"Dying, obviously. I'm a damn catch, and if you have to remember me after I die, it might as well be as the gorgeous best friend you've always had." Tony tossed Jim a winning smile, and it managed to get an answering smile. A small one, but it was a smile all the same. "And uh, while we're on the subject, you wouldn't get mad at me if I said I loved you, right? Cause you know, near death experiences and all that, I'm reevaluating how happy I am with my decisions in life, and it would kinda really suck if I died without ever having said that to you." 

"You say you love me all the time," Jim pointed out. 

"Yeah, but I say it as a friend." 

A pause. At first, Jim didn't get it. He obviously didn't get it, and he stayed in the slightly confused space that he was in. Then it clicked. It was like pulling on the little string that connected itself straight to a bare bulb-- you could so clearly see how it went from point A to point B, with a nice little ding like you'd won treasure in a game. Only Jim didn't get any treasure. All he got was the realization that Tony didn't just love him as a friend, he was _in_ love with him. Then he started to shake his head. "Tony..." he said, voice quiet and sad. 

"It's fine," Tony lied. "I figured that was the answer." 

"Then you're about to freak out over this," Jim said, and that was all the warning Tony got before Jim was kissing him. 

Tony kissed him back because- fuck, how could he not? If James Rhodes wasn't the man of everyone's dreams, then they had no taste and that's all there was to it. _Anyone_ who liked men would kiss him back. But Tony needed to check that this was what he thought it was, so he leaned away a little, barely enough space to say, "This had better not be a pity thing, but if it is, I need you to say it right now." 

"Full offense Tony, but do you really think I'd do a pity fuck?" 

"Is that an offer to take this to a bed? Because I, for one, am _all_ for-" 

"Tony." 

Tony huffed, wrapping his arm around Jim's shoulders. "No, I don't think you would, but I've thought a lot of things about people that turned out to not be true, so I wanted to double check before I got my heart completely crushed." 

"Is that what I have, Tony?" A lingering, chaste kiss. "Your heart?" 

"You always have." Maybe one day he’d tell Jim about the too-tall black kid at MIT that had looked at Jim Rhodes with hearts in his eyes. 


End file.
